Home › Research › Long-term cohort studies
Impact of sleep duration on executive function and brain structure
Tai XY, Chen C, Manohar S, Husain M.. Communications biology, 2022-03-03
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Sleep is essential for life, including daily cognitive processes, yet the amount of sleep required for optimal brain health as we grow older is unclear. Poor memory and increased risk of dementia is associated with the extremes of sleep quantity and disruption of other sleep characteristics. We examined sleep and cognitive data from the UK Biobank (N = 479,420) in middle-to-late life healthy individuals (age 38-73 years) and the relationship with brain structure in a sub-group (N = 37,553).
Key findings
- Poor memory and increased risk of dementia is associated with the extremes of sleep quantity and disruption of other sleep characteristics.
- We examined sleep and cognitive data from the UK Biobank (N = 479,420) in middle-to-late life healthy individuals (age 38-73 years) and the relationship with brain structure in a sub-group (N = 37,553).
- Seven hours of sleep per day was associated with the highest cognitive performance which decreased for every hour below and above this sleep duration.
- This quadratic relationship remained present in older individuals (>60 years, N = 212,006).
Why it matters
This study examined the relationship between sleep duration, cognitive performance, and brain structure in middle-to-late life individuals. It is an observational study of a possible risk factor and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
Study details
- Participants479,420
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 58/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Communications biology) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Communications Biology: journal h-index 142 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2022 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 4 / 4 | 479,420 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 150 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 25.0 citations a year over 6 year(s) since 2022 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 13.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 6 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 123 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Masud Husain: h-index 100 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Oxford: institution h-index 2,205 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 35241774) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 58 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03123-3
- PubMed: 35241774
- Original source →
- Free full text: Communications Biology →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Tai, X. Y., Chen, C., Manohar, S., & Husain, M. (2022). Impact of sleep duration on executive function and brain structure. Communications biology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03123-3
Vancouver
Tai XY, Chen C, Manohar S, Husain M. Impact of sleep duration on executive function and brain structure. Communications biology. 2022. doi:10.1038/s42003-022-03123-3. PMID: 35241774.
BibTeX
@article{tai2022-35241774,
author = {Tai, X. Y. and Chen, C. and Manohar, S. and Husain, M.},
title = {{Impact of sleep duration on executive function and brain structure}},
journal = {Communications biology},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.1038/s42003-022-03123-3},
pmid = {35241774},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03123-3}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
6 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.
Related studies in Long-term cohort studies
Also tagged “cognitive-function”
1,118 studies in the library carry the topic tag “cognitive-function”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,118 tagged studies.